27d • Discussion 💬
Second attempt.
I left my original social media accounts gradually between 2018 and 2023. The easiest one to leave was Instagram, where I had 17,000 followers. I deleted it in 2018. It was relatively simple because I never saw Instagram as a source of income. It was an add on, not a pillar.
In contrast, LinkedIn meant something entirely different to me. I had built a network of more than 7,000 contacts there, and it had brought me solid business several times. I valued it. That is why I only deleted LinkedIn in 2023, and it was the hardest decision in the whole process.
What surprised me most was that even two months after deleting it, whenever I opened a search engine, I automatically typed LinkedIn into the search bar. Reflex. Habit. Addiction. For the first six months after deleting it, I felt free. Like a king who had reclaimed his time. But then came a phase I call the "After Delete Syndrome".
I started to doubt myself. People around me said I could have just turned off notifications. That I could have regulated myself better. That I had disconnected from the world unnecessarily. And here is the difference compared to other addictions. When you delete your social media, there is no such thing as just one small beer. It is a radical cut. Done. No way back.
I began to think they might be right. What if all it took was turning off notifications, not taking the phone to bed, not reaching for it immediately after waking up? But then how do I build my communities? What if someone is spamming? What if someone posts a question I could monetize immediately? At the same time, I was returning to consulting. How do I let people know what I do and who I do it for if I do not broadcast it?
So I created the accounts again.
And that was even more absurd than deleting them the first time. From someone who used to get 100,000 views on a post, I became someone barely reaching a hundred strangers. I told myself I am capable. I started training the algorithm again, publishing, testing. It worked. One post crossed 1,000 views within 24 hours. And in that exact moment, it hit me again.
I remembered why I had deleted everything in the first place.
My days once again revolved around strategy, reach, analytics, testing formats. How many profile visits. How many impressions. What works. What does not.
But this is not who I'am.
This is not my life’s purpose. It is not rooted in my values. It does not help me set priorities or protect my inner center. On the contrary, it pulls me away from calm and mental clarity.
That is when I understood that the answer was not better discipline.
It was changing the game entirely.
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Second attempt.
